đ Share this article Brian Harris Obituary: A Life Through the Camera The photographer Brian Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 from cancer, left school at 16 to become a messenger boy, and went on to become one of the most respected British documentary photographers of his generation. An International Career He travelled the world as a freelance or a employee for major British titles, covering major happenings including the fall of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkans and throughout Africa, the consequences of the Falklands war and several US presidential campaigns. He also created lyrical scenic views of the countryside around his Essex home. By his own calculation he took over 2m photographs, taking an average of 100 a day, but he made that count some years back. He continued posting archive and new images daily on social media up to a few weeks before his passing, and had been arranging to give a talk on his career and experiences. Notable Assignments Stories from a rollercoaster career featured an expenses-shredding premium flight in 1991 to reach the burial in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he fainted from heatstroke and pneumonia and was treated with ice that had been used to preserve the body. His 1983âs images of the at that time Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, falling into the sea on Brighton beach were published across multiple columns of a front page, and are often reprinted as a striking example of staged photo hubris. His 2016 memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, took the title from an irritated John Major hitting him with a rolled-up briefing paper. Career Highlights He was appointed as the Timesâ youngest ever staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked around the world for nearly a decade, including reporting of the end of the civil war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He later stepped down over what he considered editing of his most powerful images of famine in Africa. In 1986 Harris became chief photographer as the team was put together to launch a major newspaper. He played a key role in shaping the style of editorial photography that the paper was famous for, helping raise the bar for news photography and broadsheet design, in dramatic images filling front and back pages. Among numerous awards, he was honoured as the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe recording the fall of communism. He worked as a freelance after being let go in 1999, and significant projects after that included a year spent photographing cemeteries across the world in 2006 for the war memorial organisation, which led to an exhibition launched in London â where he gave a personal tour to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh â and a emotional book, Remembered. Background and Start Harris was raised in east London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an technician who later helped his son build a darkroom in the garage. In the 1950s, the family relocated eastwards â and up in the world â to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to a local secondary modern school, acquiring practical skills in carpentry and metalwork, before departing at 16. At a Fleet Street photo agency, he quickly advanced from delivery boy to photographer, and launched his professional career at east London local papers before progressing to national publications. Colleagues and Legacy Other photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as astonishing. Nick Turpin, who collaborated with him in the initial stages, described him as âa great and fearless photographerâ, an inspiration to a cohort of young colleagues. Another associate, a union representative, said he âtransformed the possibilities of news photography during newspapersâ peak eraâ. Private World In 2001 Harris made contact through a website with Nikki, whom he had first met as a three-year-old in infant school, and they became inseparable partners through his final decades. After learning of his illness, they embarked on a road trip in Europe, sharing sunny images of fine dining and quality drinks, and revisiting important sites including Dresden and Ypres. His final project, finished a short time before his demise, was to donate his extensive collection of 55 yearsâ work to a long-term repository. Among his preferred archive images he reflected on a youthful Harris consuming generous servings of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: âWhat a fortunate life Iâve had â no regrets and no âMust Doâsââ. He was wed twice, each union concluded with divorce. He is remembered by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his second marriage, Nikkiâs daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.